


aegis

by In_The_Gardens_of_Inspiration



Series: atlas and ladybug are both beetles (both hold up the sky) [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Complete, Gen, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, One Shot, Purposeful Cliffhanger, and master fu, like hawk moth, slight ML Salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28271757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_The_Gardens_of_Inspiration/pseuds/In_The_Gardens_of_Inspiration
Summary: Tikki grabbed her miraculous, and phased through the wall, rushing to Master Fu's shop, on high alert as she flew, with that alertness, that alarm, changing to panic as she saw the corrupted magic butterfly fluttering towards Marinette's loft. She flew faster, hoping to make it to Fu's before her chosen succumbed to akumatization.///In the emptiness of her room, Marinette sat at her desk, twisting and twirling her pen, staring at the blank page before her. She wondered if she did the right thing, breaking now to mend herself later. Throwing Hawk Moth even further off of her trail as Ladybug. Finally letting herself feel the whole spectrum of emotions, as intense as it may be.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki
Series: atlas and ladybug are both beetles (both hold up the sky) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1788061
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56





	aegis

In the solace of her bedroom, Marinette was curled up on her bed, _breaking_ ; body wracked by the force of her tears, her anxieties, her anger.  
  
Tikki sat on her chosen's shoulder, curled into the crook of her neck, the little goddess feeling unsure how best to help the girl.  
  


It felt like she was shattering. There was so much placed, _heaped_ , on her shoulders.  
  
"Tikki, I- I can't- I can't do this anymore."  
  
  
The little goddess was shocked, her beloved chosen wanted to quit, with all of Paris and the missing miraculous hanging in the balance?  
  
"You can't quit, you're Ladybug! You-"

Marinette sat up as straight as she could.  
  
"I _can't_ \- I _need_ \- I'm breaking, Tikki. I'm breaking and I don't think the Miracle Cure will fix me."  
  
She struggled to even out her breathing, so that she wasn't sobbing, wasn't hyperventilating; she noted faintly that it was only her resolve, that force of personality tempered by being Ladybug, that kept her calm in the absolute hurricane of emotions.  
  
"Sooner or later, I might get akumatized, and I can't risk the earrings. If they get destroyed, or- or _corrupted_ Paris is _**doomed**_. I- I _can't_ be responsible for that, Tikki."

"But, Marinette- " Tikki hovered in front of her chosen, putting her little hands on Marinette's.  
  
"I've fought Hawk Moth off the last four times he's tried to akumatize me. I've listened to Adrien, to take the high road even if it's hurting me to do that. I'm letting every petty, snide, hurtful comment that Chloe or Lila say slide off of me, because it shouldn't matter what a pair of bullies think- but Lila's _winning_ , she's turning the class, my friends, away from me, and it feels like no matter what I do, I'm losing my grip..."  
  
She sighed heavily, continuing her train of thought.  
  
"As Ladybug, fighting the Akuma is getting more and more difficult because it feels like Chat keeps playing when he should be taking things more seriously, and he doesn't _listen_ to me when he hears me. It frustrates me that I have to run off to get back-up, especially after Master Fu started teaching me about becoming a Guardian."

"Oh, Marinette..." Tikki was at a loss for words, she had no idea that her holder felt like that.

"And the temporary heroes. I don't know if I trust them now, not with how they've been acting to me outside of the mask-"

She cut herself off, needing to breathe and refocus.

"But they don't know that I'm Ladybug. They don't know, so why wouldn't Ladybug choose them? Then again, why not choose people outside of the _Akuma Class_ ' sphere of influence?Which means no Viperion, Ryuuko, Roi Singe, Pegase, Bunnyx, Rena Rouge, Carapace, Aspik. And _definitely_ no more Queen B.  
  
"Oh, but then they'd call me cruel, wouldn't they? How could I, Ladybug, not choose them to be heroes again? Especially since Bunnyx came back in time, and everyone else did so well-"

Tikki was unsettled, she could sense her chosen's turbulent emotional state, which hadn't settled yet, and she could just sense Nooroo's magic, however twisted, on the edge of her perception.

"Marinette! Please, you have to calm down, you'll just be giving in to-"

  
Marinette sighed, shifted so she sat cross-legged, stared at her hands, at the kwami resting in them.

"Is it wrong of me to have emotions, Tikki? Is it wrong of me to feel?"

"No, but-"

"You said it yourself, it isn't wrong of me. I just can't help but worry, what if I get akumatized as Ladybug, _what happens then_ , Tikki?"  
  
"I- _Marinette..._ "  
  
"Exactly. Paris falls, and who knows what else will happen. I can't let that happen, even if I'm breaking. _Tikki, I can't let that happen._ "

  
Her breath hitched, and she nearly sobbed.

  
"Please, take the earrings to Fu and choose a temporary Ladybug, I'm so sorry I can't be stronger."  
  
Reaching with trembling hands, she removed her earrings, her miraculous, for a second time.  
  
"Be safe, Tikki, I'll see you soon."

  
Tikki grabbed her miraculous, and phased through the wall, rushing to Master Fu's shop, on high alert as she flew, with that alertness, that alarm, changing to _**panic** _as she saw the corrupted magic butterfly fluttering towards Marinette's loft. She flew faster, hoping to make it to Fu's before her chosen succumbed to akumatization.  
  


* * *

  
  
In the emptiness of her room, Marinette sat at her desk, twisting and twirling her pen, staring at the blank page before her.

  
She wondered if she did the right thing, breaking now to mend herself later. Throwing Hawk Moth even further off of her trail as Ladybug. Finally letting herself feel the whole spectrum of emotions, as intense as it may be.

  
There was anger, at Lila, at her friends for believing a bad liar, Adrien and his passivity...

  
There was anguish, how could her classmates, her friends who've known her forever, believe Lila over her? How could Adrien sit back and say 'as long as we know, and don't expose a liar, she's fine. it's not like she's hurting anyone _else_ '?

  
There was apathy, why should she care that her so-called friends are so starstruck by a bad liar? Why should she care when they don't? Why not take the high road, indeed. Why should it be a Marinette problem. It's a Lila problem.

Looking at her desktop screen, alternating between pictures of her _crush_ , photos of her _friends_ , photos of her city, she barely noticed the akuma land onto, merge into, her pen.

  
Hawk Moth's voice was distant through a fog of repeating anger, anguish, apathy.

  
 _"You've been hurting, been stressing over cruelties, haven't you? You must want answers, want the truth. Aegis, I can give you the power to make people speak the truth through the masks they wear. All I ask in return, are the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses._ "

"If that is what you wish, Hawk Moth, so be it."

  
And Marinette was lit up in a wash of dark magic.

Her form wavered, split into three.

  
The light evaporated, leaving three girls, all wearing deep navy outfits and porcelain half-masks. One facet knelt on the floor, one stayed where she sat, one stood beside them. They were still for a moment, then the standing one, Stheno, _Truthbringer_ , turned to her sisters.

  
A little taller, a little broader, a little angrier. She had dark red snakes in place of her hair, pulled up into a high ponytail. She wore a singlet, with bronze armour inlaid with vivid rubies. Her mask made her look righteously infuriated.

  
Euryale, the kneeling sister, _Oathkeeper_ , stood. Lean, wiry, burdened with a sad air. Her hair, her snakes, were a faded, pale blue, laid against her back in a loose braid. Her outfit was like that of a dancer. Leggings, and a sweeping tunic, bordered in platinum, studded with vibrant sapphires. Her mask looked like a mourner's.

  
Medusa, the final sister, _Adjudicator_ , stood too. Her hair was down, snakes twisting and moving, their scales a soft green. She wore a chiton and leggings, with rose gold chains attached to manacles around her wrists and ankles, like very ostentatious jewelry. She had also had a rose gold diadem settled on her brow, adorned with emeralds. The pen Marinette had held had become a quindent. Her mask made her look aloof and disinterested.

Despite the half masks covering their eyes, you couldn't deny the resemblance between Marinette and her akuma.

  
The three-but-one radiated a quiescent danger, that was felt throughout all of Paris; and in a particular parlour, a small god wept.

**Author's Note:**

> This is _**definitely**_ a oneshot, but thank you for your ideas and comments. Have a lovely holiday season.


End file.
